There's plenty to consider when weighing up all the facts
oit in a nutshell
Oral immunotherapy, or OIT, is the tried and tested method of introducing an allergen to the allergic patient at levels so low as to not trigger the body's reaction. By 'sneaking in under the body's hypersensitive radar', and then consuming that dose every day for a defined period of time, the body adapts to its presence. It develops a tolerance for the dose.
Over time, the dose is titrated upwards little by little so that the body's tolerance threshold gets slowly, slowly nudged higher. The whole process takes around two years for a junior patient, at which point they are moved onto a maintenance dose.
OIT is not offering a cure; it is offering a learned tolerance.
OIT is not offering a cure; it is offering a learned tolerance. This part is important: the patient does not leave his or her allergy in the past. But by taking a maintenance dose going forward, their body retains its learned tolerance of the allergen. By stopping the maintenance dose, you risk ending your tolerance and the allergy returning in all its former glory. So, OIT is not offering a cure; it is offering management.
'do not try this at home'
Important note part deux: seeing that OIT involves administering what is a potentially lethal allergen to an allergic patient, this method can only be conducted under close supervision by specialists in controlled medical settings. This is most definitely a case of 'do not try this at home'!
uk oit
As Abi had developed more allergies, the cripplingly expensive UK-based peanut-only OIT became less appealing by the second. Did we want to spend £17,000 to treat only one of her eight allergies? The goal was to phenomenally reduce the omnipresent threat to Abi's life, no?
Did we want to spend £17,000 to treat only one of her eight allergies?
And so we stepped away from the Cambridge option, and for more than one reason. We were back to the drawing board; most certainly feeling powerless and disheartened.
So if not the UK option - then what? Well, read on, my friend...
Comentarios